There are two ways to sleep well at night ... be ignorant or be prepared.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

War has moved to new frontiers. This time its your computer...

This has never happened before yet we
witnessed it. Sony pulled a movie "The Interview" because of threats
from a group of hackers. These hackers sat half way around the world and got
into Sony's offices and twisted their arm. The sheer magnitude of this episode
is mind boggling. What message does it covey to others hackers, is a different
story.

So here is the question "If a $22B
corporation can get hacked and forced to surrender, can you face the
same?"

Answer is YES !!

Your
personal and confidential Information is flowing digitally more than ever, all
your message, emails, personal data is at risk and you need to know how to
protect it.

Here's how to see signs of Identity
Theft per FTC.

How do thieves get your information?

They rummage through your
garbage, trash of business or public dumps. or
pretend to work — for legitimate companies, medical offices, clinics,
pharmacies, or government agencies, or convince you to reveal personal
information.

What do Thieves do with your Information ?

Once identity thieves have your
personal information, they can drain your bank account, run up charges on your
credit cards, open new utility accounts, or get medical treatment on your
health insurance.

A health plan won’t cover you because your
medical records show a condition you don’t have.

The IRS notifies you that more than one tax
return was filed in your name, or that you have income from an employer
you don’t work for.

You get notice that your information was
compromised by a data breach at a company where you do business or have
an account.

What If Your Information is Lost or Stolen, But Your
Accounts Don’t Show Any Problems?

If your wallet, Social Security card, or other personal, financial
or account information are lost or stolen, contact the credit reporting
companies and place a fraud alert on your credit file. Check your bank and other account statements for unusual activity.
Order a free copy of your credit report periodically to monitor your accounts. You have a right to one free copy of your credit report from each of the national credit reporting companies every year. If you stagger your orders, you can get a credit report every four months.

The following examples of identity theft schemes are written
from public record documents on file in the courts within the judicial district
where the cases were prosecuted.

Texas Resident Sentenced for
Filing False Claims for Refunds
On Sept. 29, 2014, in Phoenix, Arizona, Stephen Galender Allison, of Lakeway,
Texas, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $813,555 in
restitution. Allison previously pleaded guilty to false claims. According to
court documents, between 2007 and 2012, Allison filed a total of 29 fraudulent
federal and state tax returns. In these returns, Allison falsely claimed that
the filer had earned substantial wages, that substantial taxes had already been
withheld from the filer’s paycheck, and that the filer was entitled to a large
refund based on these alleged tax withholdings. In addition to filing several
of these false tax returns on his own behalf, Allison also filed similar
returns on behalf of a fictitious person and on behalf of several acquaintances
whose identities he had stolen.

Defendant Sentenced in $19
Million Tax Fraud Conspiracy
On Sept. 26, 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska, Maximo Amparo-Vazquez, aka Japhet Soto
Santiago, aka Luis Angel Cortez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic formerly
residing in Alaska, was sentenced to 84 months in prison, three years of
supervised release and ordered to pay $559,755 in restitution to the IRS.
Amparo-Vazquez pleaded guilty on July 2, 2014, to conspiring to defraud the
government with respect to claims. According to court documents, from January
2010 to March 2012, Amparo-Vazquez conspired with others to use stolen
identities to file income tax returns for the purpose of obtaining fraudulent
income tax refunds. The conspirators in the income tax fraud scheme obtained
the stolen identities of more than 2,600 individuals, including people’s names
and social security numbers. Most of these stolen identities were from citizens
of Puerto Rico.

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